Why did you decide to buy a Celica and what has it been like to own?

[alex282]

Can you remember where you first heard of the Celica, why did you buy one and what's it been like to own?

The first thing I can remember is being about 12 and one of my friends dads had an early Gen 7 in red, I thought it was a Ferrari and asked him how he could afford it

A couple of years ago when I had just passed my driving test I decided I was gonna wait a while and then buy a Celica as my first car after university as they were still expensive and insurance was way too much

To me the Gen 7 is one of the best looking cars ever made but the reliability and amount of car you get for your money really make it almost perfect. This year I had money saved up from the last few years by not owning a car and checked how much they were selling for. I couldn't believe that they had came down so much and also the insurance had came down to £660 from about £5000 I was getting quoted 2 years ago, so after weeks of looking eventually found a good deal on a 7th Gen and bought it

Since I've owned it for the last month I've loved it! All that waiting for a good car instead of diving in and buying a cheap car as soon as I passed my test was worth it. Every car I go in feels raised compared to it and I feel like a celebrity when I see peoples reactions of a 20 year old getting out of a G7 (to people that don't know much about cars it looks a lot more expensive and faster than it is). Only thing is I don't like is leaving it parked anywhere because it gets a lot of attention, in case someone damages it when I'm not there (does anyone else worry about this?) especially with a high excess on insurance too

[splinter]

I knew of Celicas for a long time as when I was doing my cadetship training when I was 19 I wanted a white MR2 turbo and to convert it 355 replica when I qualified. Whilst looking I realised the Celica GT4 ST205 was same engine but 4 seats and 4WD. Went for the MR2 in the end.

When at MR T for some parts... I had dropped the 355 idea, as loving the turbo in its self!! Haha... I saw a chilli red gen 7 GT in the showroom... looked epic. Couldn't wait to see the spec list. I was hoping for rear or AWD and 2.0 or 2.0turbo. My heart sank when I read 1.8 NA front wheel drive!!! Loved to look just didn't like the drive train. I stuck with the MR2 for 3 years. But had to sell to get a new house (first house went to ex!! :rolleyes: )

I said to myself, wait it out there may be a GT4 in the pipeline... It never came. But I did still want one, or a GT4. But not really a frog eye fan!

Kept an eye out in the classifieds and saw Adam Taylor's white gen7 up for sale tried to buy it as fell in love with that, but he pulled out the sale. Only other white one was up in Scotland!! I live on south coast!! So few emails went back and forth and I hopped on a flight to fife... Drove home in my nicely kitted white gen 7. Loved every minute of te drive home. 7 hours of fun.

The driving position and road holding is great. I now have an Evo 8 too it's fucking rapid but I still prefer the low slung driving position and handling of my Moo, but moo has had a lot of work some to the set up. It's as if now every car I drive needs to have a lower better positioned seat and a roof chop as they are so damn high!!

One day I will Finnish the rear drive conversion and have the set up it should of had in the first place.

The gen 7 is a very pretty car. Looks far better than anything else for the money.

[silver gt]

In 1981 a mate at work got a '73 Celica ST. I knew of them, but at the time Japanese cars had a poor reputation for being made of plastic and tin foil.

I had a go in it and I wasn't impressed. I had an 1850 Dolomite at the time and the Celica's handling and performance were laughable next to that. All the interior felt like it would break in a week and the exterior was covered with silly little chrome bits that looked tacky. It was a woman's car.

But...despite all that, it kind of grew on me.

I've had 4 Celicas so far, the current one for 10 years.

[arizona]

My first one was a gen 6 st (luckily not an oil burner) and only bought because i needed something in a hurry when my previous car failed its mot badly. I just saw it on ebay, liked the look of it and got it for a reasonable price

Used it as my daily for nearly 6 years, not bad as it had been a stopgap, It was so reliable and nice to drive plus kept passing its mots so i was majorly impressed and now have had the vert for a few years. I also really liked the gen 5 shape............. doh i joined the rest on here that ended up with multiple celicas, its addictive :rolleyes:

[redtoycelica]

I first saw one about 5 years ago I had a mk2 golf gti and done a g60 conversion on it (supercharged it) and one night I saw four light come up behind me on the motor way quick it pulled along side me making a beutiful grumble so I thought yea lets burn it (still didnt know what it was as really dark) so I put my foot down so did he and it was gone. It took a couple of days researching to find a jap car with 4 front lights and found the gen 6 gt4 and loved it I thought yes this is my next car well insurance was through the roof and they where expensive so done a little more digging and found the gt and affordable I saw about 10 different cars travel all round the country till one turned up and it was perfect went and drove it loved it bought there and then and took it home. Im now on my second celica and dont want any other car.

[celicamojo]

Was aware of the Celica for years, but in 1994, saw my first Gen 6. I absolutely loved the sleek curves.

Post second marriage break-up, decided to buy 'a car i'd like' rather than 'a car I need'

And The Mistress was born...

Still think the Gen 6 is one of the best looking cars ever made and love driving her

[digs]

Saw a GT4 a few years ago, was driving behind it in my peug106 (!!) and loved it, then noticed a couple of other gen 6s.....decided I wanted one! Really wanted a GT4 but they were out of price range, so found a SSI (not that I knew that much about them at that point) and bought it.

Should have sold it and bought a GT, but just couldn't! Even with the rust....

To own has been interesting....don't think it was well looked after at all.

Edited June 30, 2013 by digs

[izzzzythedog]

about 15 yrs ago i brought a gen 4 as a driver , liked the looks and pop up headlights man .......

then brought anouther because its a jap and i liked the looks etc , a gen 5

then another gen 5

then had a blart in a friends gt4 gen 5 , an import with all the toys ( fresh air cleaner in the roof lining ! ) asnd once id wiped the brown from the seats thought ill get one of them

so did , sold to a club member from scotland .... my first contact with the club

then brought another 5 ( getting the hint here , pop up headlights dude )

then brought a gen 5 cabs , a rescue jobbie i sorted out

then a beams gen 6 ( feckinwonderful car )

then a gen 5 vert feckupthingie

then a CS

then another beams

then another gt4

,,,,,,,,,,,, i may have missed one or 2

and why ? because i liked the reliability , i loved the looks , i like its just different from everything around , not a sheep more a goat i guess

then another

[shaungt4]

Seen them as a kid .Brother had 1 years ago when i passed my test i wonted one but was out of the price range and insurance was just silly

Kind of forgot about them after that, So rare around this neck of the woods apart from the 7.

Any how a few years back was looking for a new motor on ebay seen a gen 5 gt-r import so bought it.'

Year later bought a gen 4 vert off a club member to go with the gen 5.Now also got a gen 4 gt4 lol ended up with 3 of them know,

[dublet]

I had just crashed my Corolla and was at the Toyota dealership "returning" it and they had a second hand AT180 for sale. Expensive, of course, and with the 1.6l engine I thought it looked wonderful but it went no quicker than my Corolla. I joined some Celica forum in the Netherlands and found one from a fellow club owner that I bought.

Extremely rare wide body ST182. Now even more rare, since I had to have it crushed for various reasons.

[simonwref]

Fell in love with the gen5 at nec motorshow in 1990, had the rally picture on my wall throughout my teens and then bought one 3 years ago.

[FlybyWyre]

I have been watching Toyoya coupes since the 2000GT. Loved the 'Mustang' Celica, very not sure about the angular ones. Then the Gen 4, the first FWD caught my interest. Didn't buy one cos I moved to OZ and used to drive a friends over there.

Since then Gen 5 GT4, Gen 6 GT and Gen 7 TS. (ST185 is not mine)

Just wish I had bought a 2000GT ! Would have been a better investment than a house.

[Limeymk1]

First one was a Gen 4 I won on the bay of E for £10, cambelt had snapped and was a bit of a state. Cleaned her up, fixed the engine and got her running sweetly. Unortunately the rust was beyond my skills to fix at the time.

Got a Gen 5 (UK spec hardtop widebody) as a runabout a few years ago, she was totally standard and a joy to drive, I used to lead the IMOC midnight run in her and she went through the twisties better then most of the following MR2s.

Current Gen 6 is also my 'runabout' but I've tinkered with her a lot more. Fun on track and comfortable for long distances, remarkably good for a wrong wheel drive car.

The reason I keep coming back is that they're practical, well laid out inside and above all a hoot to drive.

[Monkey Boy 1]

Sorry to say, but I only really noticed Celica's when I was on the search for a sports GT about 4 years ago. I have been involved in the motor industry for many years and a car enthusiast for as long as I can remember, but the Celica just seemed to have passed by unnoticed to me.

Anyway, on the search for a sports car (mid life crisis car) I needed to tick a few boxes before I decided what to get.

It had to have 4 seats due to having kids, it had to look good, be able to be used for an every day car and be different enough to enjoy and be within my £2500 price range.

I didn't want to travel too far either.

There were a few cars which came within the radar, they were Hyundai Coupe, Mitubishi FTO, Honda Civic, Integra, Prelude, Lotus Eclat, & the Gen 6 Celica.

The Lotus was off the list very quickly, even though there is a lot of Toyota underpinnings to the model and I work for the company, a good one was way above the £2.5K limit.

The Honda's were also quickly off the list, again the Type R would have been the ones to go for but again the price tag was a little high for a good one.

this left the Hyundai, FTO & Celica.

I was very close to getting an FTO, but then a call from the wife said she had found a car on Autotrader which I should look at. It was a ST202.

I had never really looked into the Celica, so a quick chat with one of the guys at work who I found out was a previous Celica owner made me look into them a bit closer.

Anyway, a quick phone call to a garage in Boston, Lincs and I was up there to view it with my teenage son.

On arrival, he said to me 'Dad you must get it'. After nearly 3 hours looking over it, under it, in it and driving it. It came to crunch time. As I was deliberating on whether to purchase her or not, Mr & Mrs Fat with their oversize fat kids turned up and said "Come to view the Toyota".

With that, a cash deposit was thrust into the sellers hands and the deal was done. It was towards the high end of what Celicas were going for then, but ,,,, Hell. I have loved her ever since.

She has been easy to live with, very reliable, except for the brakes. The only things i have done to her in the 4 years of ownership, apart from the usual service items are brake caliper replacement, spring replacement & radiator replacement.

Within 2 weeks of ownership I found CCUK which has been a Godsend on info and experiences. There is a great info database with owners past & present.

To me, the 6 is one of the better looking 90's cars on the road. Still fairly timeless in looks. Their stance, if slightly lowered can still look aggressive enough to make heads turn. The build quality is pretty good, though some little things can be niggly. poor quality door cards & some plastics let the car down slightly. under body fasteners are made out of crapalunium and headlights are poor compared to modern standards.

Boot space is compromised by the spare wheel sticking above the boot floor surface, but overall I still could not find another car to replace her (apart from a ST205)

[usetheforce]

My first awareness of a Celica came when I had sold a car in the late 90's so 15+ yrs ago now and i needed something to drive and went to a few car dealers and spotted this rather nice looking silver car and asked how much it was and the guy said £400 as it had just had a full mot done (So pretty much paid for the fact it had an mot on it).

And it was a 1981 ra61 xt which had a leaky sunroof, but I thought it was great fun to drive and had a high spec i thought at the time, and it is what got me interested and so far I have now had 6 since of varying models and years!

[Cravo]

I used to see the gen 5 kicking about and a few gen 6's when I was in my teens.

But I fell in love with the Gen 7 one day when I was 19

I was sat in my local Mr T having a service done on my Avensis (I needed a reliable comfy cruiser as I was driving to Leeds and back 4 days a week) and in came the showroom model with a car transporter full of 7's.

From that day on I said I will have one of those beauties. So I bought my first one in 2011 a 140 with all the premium and sport pack but had to sell due to being made redundant 6 months later.

Then in Feb last year I needed another so I bought the T Sport

Didn't really appreciate the faff until I actually drove one and now I love it and the rest is history

Edited July 1, 2013 by Cravo

[daytona]

Brother had a Gen 1 2 ltr ST I think. Was ok but didn't set my heart a flutter. Brother in law had gen 2 & 3. Though they were quite nice. Sister in law had gen 7 and I always liked the lines but with family / mortgage etc a nice one nearly new like hers was about 8k, and out of my price bracket. Had one or two special cars over the years, a TR4A IRS and an audi quattro were favourites. Having been through a tough time a few years back I thought I would be "sensible" and get a 2 ltr Mondeo. Most tedious irritating piece of poop it has ever been my displeasure to own.

Last year both my lads were pratting about in Clio supersports. Not my kind of deathtrap really but they were having fun. Then one blew up. The eldest was skint and came crying to bank of dad. Mum was always allergic to money, other than mine. Needed to find summat sporty but cheap and relaible.

Always thought Toyaotas pretty bullet proof so got him a gen7 140 with 130 k on it for £1100. Didn't know about the oil issue. However it ran sweet as a nut for a year and he sold it for £1200 when I found him the FTO he had always cherished.

Having driven his 140 I thought it would do everything the Mondeo would re practicality but without the terminal boredom. Didnt do anything about it though as I thought it just needed a bit more Oomph. Then as I was trawling AutoTrader I stumbled across a 190. A what? I thought. Checked it out a bit. Logged on to the club to check it out a bit more spent months hunting down the right one and am delighted with it. Well ok it could really do with a stage 2 cam and another half a litre to go like it looks but it's still a load of car for the money and if Carlberg did car clubs, I think this would be it, apart from over officious moderators. lol. luv ya really Cravo.x

Oh and Smart move Alex, delayed gratification is smart. Buying a status symbol is to buy something you dont want with money you havent got to impress people you dont like. That is dumb.

Edited July 1, 2013 by daytona

[El Saundo]

Wanted one ever since I saw the castrol liveried gen 5 bad boys rallying on the TV as a kid.

My second car was a JDM ST182. Money was a bit tight then, it was cheap as chips and a bit of a shed on the outside but mechanically sound and gave me several hassle free years of fun motoring. Now I own a gen7. If only they rallied the gen 7

[chelseablue]

Nearly bought a MK1 Celica in 1980, but when I had a good look at it, rust was attacking the bottom of the front wings, given this car was only three years old, decided to give it a miss, BUT the bug had got me, went to Stratford on avon fro a day out and spotted a MK2 Celica, absolutely fell in love with the shape, came back to Milton Keynes, went to my local Toyota dealers., and they had three used MK2 Celicas in stock, so did a deal, part exed my MK1 Capri and became the proud owner of XUR 944S a metallic blue 1600ST,

wow, what a car, kept it for three years and due to a growing family, traded it for a new Corolla, kept that for a couple of years and got the opportunity to buy a MK3 2000XT liftback, only 6k on the clock, loved the colour, silver over blue, A453 HLM was now mine kept this for 7 years, traded it for another new corolla cos the Celica was rusting away lol, kept that for 3 years and traded that for a nearly new Carina 2.0 GLi Executive, now that was a brilliant car, fairly quick, quiet and really comfortable, after that, had a couple of Renault scenics (don't laugh) cas the family had grown (gave us no trouble whatsoever), Now back in the Celica fold with a 1999 Gen 6 SR

Another great car, may change this for a 190 in the near future, or if the prices drop rapidly I'll get a GT86 for my retirement

[alex282]

Brother had a Gen 1 2 ltr ST I think. Was ok but didn't set my heart a flutter. Brother in law had gen 2 & 3. Though they were quite nice. Sister in law had gen 7 and I always liked the lines but with family / mortgage etc a nice one nearly new like hers was about 8k, and out of my price bracket. Had one or two special cars over the years, a TR4A IRS and an audi quattro were favourites. Having been through a tough time a few years back I thought I would be "sensible" and get a 2 ltr Mondeo. Most tedious irritating piece of poop it has ever been my displeasure to own.

Last year both my lads were pratting about in Clio supersports. Not my kind of deathtrap really but they were having fun. Then one blew up. The eldest was skint and came crying to bank of dad. Mum was always allergic to money, other than mine. Needed to find summat sporty but cheap and relaible.

Always thought Toyaotas pretty bullet proof so got him a gen7 140 with 130 k on it for £1100. Didn't know about the oil issue. However it ran sweet as a nut for a year and he sold it for £1200 when I found him the FTO he had always cherished.

Having driven his 140 I thought it would do everything the Mondeo would re practicality but without the terminal boredom. Didnt do anything about it though as I thought it just needed a bit more Oomph. Then as I was trawling AutoTrader I stumbled across a 190. A what? I thought. Checked it out a bit. Logged on to the club to check it out a bit more spent months hunting down the right one and am delighted with it. Well ok it could really do with a stage 2 cam and another half a litre to go like it looks but it's still a load of car for the money and if Carlberg did car clubs, I think this would be it, apart from over officious moderators. lol. luv ya really Cravo.x

Oh and Smart move Alex, delayed gratification is smart. Buying a status symbol is to buy something you dont want with money you havent got to impress people you dont like. That is dumb.

I won't lie, the looks of the 140 Gen 7 were the main thing that got me interested and I do love the reactions I get from people being impressed but but that's just complimentary to owning such a nice car. I would never buy a car just for the looks though. I wanted a car that looked good in order for me to love it and it was the fact that the reviews I was reading everywhere showed that they were more reliable than the average car, a good compromise between power and fuel efficiency, safer than other cars I could buy for that price and for someone my age the insurance of £660 was a steal when I was getting quoted well over £1000 for a 1 litre at the time of passing my test

Edited July 1, 2013 by alex282